Oral Cancer Screening

Oral Cancer Screening For San Diego

The Dentist Is Now An “Oral Cancer Detective.”

Next year, over 30,000 new cases of oral cancer will be detected in the US alone, and 8,000 people will die. (That’s one person per hour) Oral Cancer is the only cancer in the US that is rising. The insidious thing about oral cancer is that it may start off so harmless looking. A small bump or lump a red or white spot in your mouth that you may not even notice.

Our hygiene team does an oral cancer exam at every visit when you come for your cleanings and gum therapies. The doctors also double check annually when we examine your teeth. If you notice something funny in your mouth, DON’T WAIT. Call the office today. Early detection is key. Oral cancer only has a 50% 5-year survival rate if detected late.

Recently, a new tool called Oral CDX, has become available at our San Diego dentist office in La Mesa that can painlessly and easily check those lesions. It is a brush biopsy. It looks like a small bottle brush and all we need to do is simply swipe across the area a few times, to get some of the cells from the skin. Those cells are then wiped onto a slide and mailed to a special laboratory that checks the sample with a computer-assisted microscope.

Oral CDX was found to be accurate 100% of the time. In fact, it found cancer or dysplasia (the step before cancer) in an amazing 5% of lesions that were only slated for observation. This Oral CDX gives us a new tool to quickly, accurately and painlessly check your mouth’s health. Previously, the only way we had to check a spot, was to send you to an oral surgeon and have them cut the spot out and send it in for testing. So you can imagine how exciting it is to have this new technique for both the patient and the doctor.

Factors That Increase The Risk For Oral Cancer: are tobacco (smoking or spit), especially cigars, and alcohol consumption. You can still get oral cancer even if you don’t use tobacco or alcohol.

Remember the lesions can be:

Small

Look like an irritation

Could be ulcerated

Red

White

If you see any of these things on your lips, cheeks, and especially along the sides of or under you tongue, please call today. We want to do everything we can to catch potential mouth cancer for all of our San Diego patients in the La Mesa – El Cajon area!

We have joined in partnership with former major leaguer and TV commentator, Joe Garigiola, and his effort to eliminate spit tobacco (chewing tobacco or dip) by educating people that:

“Smokeless doesn’t mean harmless”

The Crown Council screened all Major and Minor League ball players during Spring Training in both Florida and Arizona.

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Patients from all over California and the United States come to award winning La Mesa dentistry at Jeff Gray DDS for exceptional cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, Invisalign braces, sedation dentistry and so much more. San Diego dentists Dr. Jeff Gray and Dr. Greg Hurtado practice in La Mesa and serve the greater San Diego area including Alpine, Santee, El Cajon, Lakeside, and Lemon Grove, CA and 92020, 91942, and 92119.